These stuffed peppers are my kind of Mexican food: fresh and full of flavor, filling but not too heavy. They’re the first complete recipe I’ve cooked from Sara and Hugh Forte’s beautiful new cookbook, The Sprouted Kitchen, and I can easily see why they are one of Sara’s favorites to cook for company.
I feel pretty safe in assuming that most of you, as readers of this little whole foods blog, are familiar with Sprouted Kitchen. Sara’s recipes, which are photographed by her husband Hugh, are always vibrant, inspiring and feature fresh, seasonal produce at its finest.
Sara and her publisher, Ten Speed Press, kindly sent me an advance copy, which at first flip through sent my mind into a tizzy with its gorgeous photos and ingenious recipes. The cover of my copy already has a few splatters on it and I expect there will be many more to come. This one is a keeper, friends. I think you are going to want a copy of your own.
One of my favorite features of the book are Sara’s meal planning suggestions, like which recipes to cook for a brunch with friends or a slow morning at home, make-ahead snacks for house guests and happy hour with the girls.
These peppers are on the menu for a casual dinner for guests, which Sara suggests serving along with her white sangria, papaya and red quinoa salad with Mexican caesar dressing and coconut lime tart. Despite their impressive names, I assure you that these recipes do not call for impossible ingredients or intimidating instructions. They are as brilliantly simple as they are fresh and flavorful. Now then, who wants to come over for dinner?!
Beer Bean-Stuffed Poblano Peppers
- Author:
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 35 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
- Category: Main
- Cuisine: Mexican
The most time-consuming and variable step here is cooking the beans. Canned beans would be a big time saver; see the notes section for Sara’s recommendations on how to sub them for home-cooked beans.
Ingredients
Beer beans
- ½ pound dried black beans, picked over and rinsed (or 2 cans of cooked beans*; you’ll need about 4 cups, cooked)
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
- 1 yellow onion, chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 12 ounces Mexican beer (I used Tecate, Sara recommends a darker beer like Negra Modelo)
- 1 canned chipotle chile in adobo, chopped (1 pepper, not the whole can!), or ½ teaspoon chipotle chile powder
- scant ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- sea salt
Peppers
- 6 poblano chiles
- 1 cup crumbled cotija or feta cheese (I couldn’t find cotija, so I used feta)
- 1 cup shredded Jack cheese
- juice of ½ lime
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes, chopped
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- ½ cup chopped fresh cilantro
Instructions
- In a large bowl, soak the beans in plenty of water for at least 6 hours, or up to overnight.
- Drain the beans and set them aside. In a large pot over medium heat, add the olive oil, onion and garlic and sauté for a few minutes, until the onion is just softened.
- Add the soaked beans and 2 ½ cups water, stir, and bring the beans to a simmer. Simmer until the beans are cooked through (but not totally tender), 45 minutes to 75 minutes. Add the beer, chipotle and cinnamon and simmer until much of the liquid is absorbed, around 20 minutes. If necessary, add some water to keep the beans from drying out. Add ½ to ¾ teaspoon salt, to taste, and cook for another 10 minutes. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees and set the beans aside.
- Grease a large baking dish or cast iron skillet(s)**. Cut a slit down the length of each poblano. Use your fingers (you might want to wear gloves) and a paring knife to remove, and then discard, the membranes and seeds from each pepper.
- In a bowl, mix together the shredded Jack and crumbled cotija/feta cheese with the lime juice. If there is still a good amount of liquid in your beans, drain off some of it. Mix the chopped tomatoes into the beans. Use a spoon to fill most of each pepper with beans, then stuff a handful of cheese inside. Brush the outside of each pepper with olive oil and bake for around 25 minutes, until the tops are roasted and golden and the pepper is tender all around. Serve peppers immediately, with the slit side up and garnished with cilantro.
Notes
- Adapted from The Sprouted Kitchen Cookbook by Sara Forte.
- Sara recommends serving the peppers with Spanish rice. I took the lazy route and cooked up 2 cups (dried) long grain brown rice and mixed in ½ cup store-bought, mild salsa verde.
- You can also cook these peppers on the grill. Sara says to preheat the grill to medium-high heat, leaving one section over indirect heat. Grill the peppers over direct heat, rotating them every few minutes in order to evenly char the outsides, 6 to 8 minutes total. Transfer them to indirect heat for another 8 to 10 minutes, until the insides are melty and the peppers have softened up.
- *To substitute canned beans here, rinse and drain the beans and then sauté the onion and garlic in olive oil as directed in step 2. Don’t add water, just the beer, chipotle and cinnamon, and simmer, uncovered, for about 10 to 15 minutes. You probably don’t need to add salt since canned beans contain so much sodium, so you can proceed with stuffing the peppers once the beer and bean mixture has reduced. Note that Sara’s original recipe calls for pinto beans or Rio Zape beans.
- **I didn’t think of it until later, but perhaps baking the peppers in a cast iron pan would have helped cook the bottom sides of the larger peppers (you could even preheat the pan in the oven to further the process). I also think corn cut fresh from the cob would make a nice addition to the beer bean stuffing.
- This recipe can be gluten-free if and only if you use gluten-free beer.
▸ Nutrition Information
Vegetable enthusiast. Dog lover. I'm probably making a big mess in my Kansas City kitchen right now. 
Katrina
These sound super fabulous! Such a great treat!
Winnie
These sound so delicious…it’s such a great book, right?!
Kate
Yes, so great!
Ashley
I love Mexican food! These peppers look awesome, Kate!! I want some for dinner ;)
Laura (Tutti Dolci)
These peppers look scrumptious, I want to come for dinner! :)
Katherine Sacks
These look delicious! I love stuffed peppers – I had the most fabulous one in a Mexican restaurant one time in Texas, with golden raisin and chorizo!
Carrie @ KissMyWhisk
These look awesome, can ‘t wait to give them a try!
Beth {local milk}
I’m going to have to make a take on this with the chiles from my little plant! I’m starving & this is sounded super awesome. I love Mexican & he hates it (no joke the man ordered chicken fingers at a taco joint…). I need my fix because it’s been way, way too long.
Kate
I ordered chicken fingers at Mexican restaurants as a kid… maybe your man hasn’t had good Mexican food?! Hope that’s the problem, for your sake!
NoblePig - Cathy
Sounds amazing with that tangy cheese!
claire @ the realist
Beer and beans?? YES PLEASE!
Kate
That’s what I said when I saw this recipe!
Eileen
Stuffed poblanos–hooray! I love the idea of adding beer to refried black beans–sounds so savory and wonderful.
Rachel
I can see all the ingredients for this taking shape from my local Mexican grocery store. The beer is a nice touch! I may not like drinking it but I actually love things cooked with beer.
Stefanie @ Sarcastic
Oh I love poblano peppers!!! I am loving all the recipes from Sprouted Kitchen cookbook that have been popping up all over. I might have to buy this beautiful book!
ErinLobster
These sound fabulous – I can’t wait to give them a try! Looking forward to checking out the cookbook, too. Thanks for sharing!
erin @ yummy supper
I could eat those stuffed peppers any day! We are such lovers of Mexican food at our house and I dig the healthy adaptations.
Kathryne, I hope you’re continuing to settle happily into your new place.
xo
E
Veron
This recipe looks fantastic. What kinda peppers can be used as a substitute? I dont think we have it here.
Cheers!
Veron
http://thefoodiescorner.com
Kate
Hi Veron, I think bell peppers would be a fine substitute for the poblano peppers!
Angie@Angiesrecipes
I adore black beans, esp. fresh made. The stuffed poblano peppers look so flavourful.
Grace
This looks fantastic! I’m so excited to get my Sprouted Kitchen Cookbook in the mail! Any day now.. And yes I think a mexican inspired dinner party needs to happen soon. Your margaritas will be the perfect thing to round out the evening. Who says you can’t have sangria and a margarita, right?
Kate
I fully support sangria and margaritas with dinner, yes!
Kelly Senyei
These look so enticing! I love the color green of those peppers – it’s perfect for fall!
TARTESANDCARO
beautiful recipe
i think that it’s tasty
Cucina italiana
I love Mexican food. For dinner, I try this recipe….detailed text and beautiful photos. bye…
★★★★
Rowan
Have I missed something? Beer isn’t gluten free.
Kate
Sorry Rowan, you’re right. I’ve corrected the recipe accordingly.
Michelle
I made these for dinner tonight with a light quinoa salad that had tomato, cilantro, avacado and lime juice. They were very filling and delicious. Can’t wait for the leftovers! :)
Kate
Your quinoa salad sounds like the perfect side for these peppers!
gordon huser
FINALLY SOMEONE WHO MAKES THE RECIPE!!!!!!!
Nathan
I tryed this,I loved it.Simple and awsome.Thank you very much. Its in heavy rotation at my house.
★★★★★
Yaz
I found this recipe after my boyfriend’s family had made me try their homemade stuffed poblano peppers, and let me tell you it delivered!
I’m going to spend the next few weeks trying all kinds of beer+bean+cinnamon combinations. We veganized this by mixing daiya shreds and extra firm crumbled tofu and it came out awesomely!
★★★★★
Kate
So glad this recipe turned out well for you, Yaz!
Jette Virdi
Oh, Chile Poblanos! Memories of living back in Mexico are flooding into my brain. Will definitely be trying this recipe the moment I can get my hands on some. We used to stuff them with rice with raisins and pine nuts. Can’t wait to try!
Tracy
This looks to yummy for words!!!
Rohit
Hi Kate!
My girlfriend and I love your blog-all your recipes turn out amazing! We tried this recipe out last night and, it turned out great :) We really couldn’t find poblano peppers (I know, I live in a very obscure place) so we substituted serrano peppers and they turned out delicious.
One quick comment for those who haven’t worked with canned chipotle chile in adobo. From our experience last night, I am fairly certain the recipe calls for just ONE chile NOT the whole can, unless you are very daring! Maybe re-phrasing this sentence might help novice chefs? We were able to take some of the heat off and save the dish by adding some corn and lime. Just a note for those who follow our path!
Looking forward to trying more of your awesome recipes!
★★★★
Kate
Rohit, thank you for your feedback! Yes, I meant one chipotle chile in adobo. I’m rephrasing the instructions now! I’m glad you managed to salvage the dish, that’s a lot of spice!
Rebecca
NUMMY! Had this for dinner tonight. Went canned on the beans to save time, but it was easy and delicious!
★★★★
Kate
Thanks, Rebecca!
Kara
Hello! I recently discovered your blog and love it! We made these last night for dinner during the blizzard and they were perfect – SO tasty! Looking forward to trying more of your recipes :)
Kate
Welcome to my blog, Kara! Glad you enjoyed these. Stay warm!
Mary
Omg these were delicious. I didn’t gut the peppers very well, so they were crazy hot, but the recipe itself was perfect. This is my second recipe I’ve tried on this blog. It’s Mexican cuisine week at my household. So far, your recipes have been great!
Kate
Thank you, Mary! Sounds like you got some spicy peppers!
James
We have also tried leftover red wine instead of beer,which was a yummy alternative !
Thank you Kate for the well thought out and creative recipes !
James
Kate
Thank you, James! Great idea!
rachel
Quick Q on this – the poblanos stay in their raw state until baked? I know frequently they are pre-charred or grilled but I didn’t see any notes to do that here? Unless i missed it – making tonight so just wanted to double check : )
Kate
Yes, that’s right!
Mary
YOU GUYS! You need to make this, it is SOOOO good! We used canned beans and I am on weight watchers so we used reduced fat feta and shredded mexican blend cheese. DELICIOUS!!! We couldn’t fit our poblanos in our regular skillet so we used our LeCreuset dutch oven (the shallow one) and pre-heated it. The recipe says it feeds four but we had enough for six. If you serve your pepper over rice it’s a meal! Nom nom nom this was so flipping good even my meatatarian husband loved it!
★★★★★
marilyn gianetti
I am doing a Mexican Father’s Day feast for my family and this Beer Bean Stuffed Poblano dish sounds delicious. It doesn’t look like the peppers are charred on the grill. Would this enhance the flavor? Also, if you see this in time to answer, could I assemble tonight and bake tomorrow? I will post a pic and let you know how it turns out!
John
These were fabulous. Only changes I made were adding a can of extra hot Rotel to the beans, blanching the peppers, and using queso fresco.
★★★★★
Kate
Spicy! I like it. Thanks for sharing, John.
Annette M Dugan
Delicious! We cooked this meal in our cast iron skillet in the oven. We put the cast iron skillet in the oven while it was pre-heating. The peppers came out nice and seared. Served over brown rice. We will definitely make again. My very picky vegetarian daughter liked it too!!
★★★★
Kate
Thank you, Annette for sharing!
Marie
The dinner was great. I followed all the suggestions using the canned beans, an ear of corn, Moldelo Negro beer, and the cast iron pan preheated in the oven as my baking dish. The poblanos were tender in just 30 mins. This will become a go-to recipe for family and friends.
★★★★★
Kate
Thanks for your review, Marie!
jj
Wrap ’em in foil, shove them in the campfire! Yum!!
★★★★★
Kate
Thanks for your review!
Gayathri
Hi Kate,
I absolutely love ÿour recipes. I haven’t had a single one disliked by family or friends. I always choose your recipes when friends or family come over because they are so delicious. I don’t drink alcoholic beverages, so is there a substitute for beer? What else can I use in place of beer?
★★★★★
Kate
You could try an alcoholic free beer. Beer is a big part of this recipe and offers a lot of flavor.
Amy
I used canned black beans and followed your instructions. I also added a bit of cumin to the cheese mixture for flavor. I also roasted the peppers at 375 for 20 minutes before cutting out the seeds. This made cutting the seeds out easier and the peppers were well cooked (not al dente) in the end. I served them with lime cilantro rice and margaritas. The flavor was fantastic and everyone loved them. Will definitely make again and my college daughter will make them at college. Thanks!
★★★★★
Kate
Thank you for sharing, Amy!
Caroline
These are incredible! I added cumin, chili powder, paprika, cayenne and oregano to the beans to taste, and followed the rest of the recipe. It was so good! My husband was very pleasantly surprised with dinner, and when served with cilantro lime rice and corn it felt like a well rounded meal. I highly recommend trying this out, and definitely using a preheated cast iron to cook the peppers.
★★★★★
Kate
Great to hear you loved them, Caroline!
Chris
I made these for my partner and I, and we found them to be surprisingly bland. The stuffed peppers were really lacking in flavor. They looked beautiful and made a well balanced meal paired with Spanish rice, avocado, fresh tomato, corn, and cilantro. We ended up slathering the stuffed peppers in a verde hot sauce, which made them a bit better, but I wouldn’t recommend this dish without significant alteration to the seasoning.
★★
Kate
I’m sorry you didn’t love this recipe. Thank you for your feedback, Chris!
Shelly Gordon
The first time I made this, I had a can of chocolate stout in the fridge and used that as the beer. Soooo delicious and impressed the diners. The 2nd time I used another dark stout and it is perfect. Only missing the chocolate. Thanks for the great recipe.
★★★★★